Here in no specific order are a few of them.
Most affirming…standing in the second row at the swim start with no real nerves or feeling out of place.
Most gratifying….when another cyclist pulled up beside me and said, "wow, even your drink matches your bike"
Coolest...Every time an anonymous spectator called me by my first name....of course it was on my bib.
Warmest….peeing my pants during the bike---twice!
Coldest…on the run when one of the ice cubes I had dumped in my suit slid gently down the crack of my ass.
Most frightening…going 75 kms/hr downhill on a very crappy road
Most sobering…seeing a cyclist laying in the middle of the road at the bottom of the same hill
Most annoying…listening to the asshole that thought it was funny to offer beer and cigarettes to exhausted runners
Most disgusting…taking an unexpected mouthful of chocolate flavoured gel
Most discouraging…at about 5 kms into the run when I realized there was not going to be any race day magic today
Sweetest…hearing Roos voice near the finish line even though I could not see her.
Most satisfying…when Roo said yes to my marriage proposal before I headed out on the run.
Most thankful….when a volunteer helped me pack up my wetsuit after the swim.
Most surprising…when I stood up in Lake Okanagan after 1 hour, 18 minutes.
Most encouraging…the pushup including a hand clap that I did immediately after finishing.
Funniest…when a guy wearing a dress and carrying a purse passed me on the run.
Most exhilarating…heading out on the bike course with the wind behind me.
Most alarming…when with one kilometre to go on the bike a water bottle fell into my back wheel and got stuck. I thought my wheel blew up.---big wobble in it now.
Most disappointing…when with about 5 kms to go I realized I was not going to beat my previous time.
Most disorienting…during the bike to run transition when they sent us everywhere expect for what made logical sense.
Toughest moment….at the run turnaround when 21 kms seemed like the end of the world.
….and the absolutely very best moment of the entire day….
Later that day when I was puking my guts out back at the motorhome. I knew for sure then, that I had given everything I had to give….no regrets, no apologies…
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."---Martin Luther King Jr
"Miracles come in moments. Be ready and willing."---Wayne Dyer
"Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments."---Rose Kennedy
Love
Peter
Love this blog. Answers a lot of questions one in particular i hesitated to ask " what if and or where does one PEE??? I am still in AWE of your accomplishments with this Ironman journey..
ReplyDeleteI know this may not mean anything, but I'm still so impressed that you even finish an Ironman! And in the impressive time that you do. I remember following your time online and seeing the long list of DNF's ("did not finish") among participants. So many people can't even finish the race. And I always wondered during the race, "what if dad's bike breaks on him?", "what if he falls over and hurts himself?", etc.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you should rightly be proud of your swim (as you point out)!! I was so impressed when I was following you and you cut off 5 minutes off your swim! And this is supposed to be your weakest part of the triathlon, technically, and yet you did so. You may have ran a slightly slower race overall, but your swim and bike were clearly stronger than list time. And something else I noticed, is that you're actually a really strong runner too relative to the participants who finish in similar overall times around you. What I mean to say, is that your run time in 2009 was noticeably "better" than it should have been considering what your OVERALL time was and the run times that other people had who finished in the same overall time ballpark as you. For the most part, their runs were significantly slower than yours.
All of this anecdotal stuff that I noticed when following your race just makes me realize how impressive you are. I'm so proud! Awesome list of great moments and disappointments. I like all of the little good moments that you had, such as the other biker commenting on your water battles even matching your colour scheme. How cool is that?
Love,
Mike
...and thse are the "bits" I really treasure! The pieces of you that you share...THANKS!!
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